MY A-Z GLOBAL CUISINE PROJECT - LIFE FROM SCRATCH

The book revolved
around the mammoth project undertaken by Sasha which involved
her cooking from every country of the world i.e.
precisely 197 countries. Tackling one country per week, it took her
almost 4 years to complete this assignment. She initially commenced this major
task with the prime objectives of coaxing her picky husband to experiment with
food and exposing her six-month daughter to various global cuisines.

But as she delved
deeper into herself, Sasha realized this project was her way of meditation and
making peace with her extremely difficult childhood. Sasha was raised by a
single mother and they faced serious financial difficulties. However, her
mother was a very savvy cook and let no crumb go to waste be it moldy breads or
spoilt apples. What she didn't have in resources, she made up for in creativity
such as by introducing cranberry juice with cereal just because she could not
afford milk.

Cooking and food was
Sasha's strongest connection to her mother which kept her going when she lived
in a string of foster homes.

Sasha in her book,
particularly talks about certain recipes such as the German Tree Cake recipe
which consisted of 21 layers made from almond paste that had to be further
broiled, layered and frosted. This was a recipe that her mom had saved up for
months and took them jointly two days to make. It was her mother's way of
teaching Sasha that life is all about resilience and perseverance.

Perhaps cooking
her way through 197 countries was the adult version of the German Tree cake
recipe through which Sasha managed to make peace with her past, forgive and
move on to find happiness in her current life.

Since having read
this book, I have been very inspired with this project and have decided to
embark one on my own albeit on a smaller scale. I would

be cooking and blogging from one country starting from A
to Z on a fortnightly/monthly basis. This project would indulge two of
my passions, one learning about world cuisines and
two, cooking experiments which in turn would widen my repertoire of
recipes.

However, I have a couple of disclaimers which I
think is important to list out here before I start off:

·Recipes might not be
completely authentic owing to the unavailability of certain ingredients and
more importantly because I lack the technical know-how about local cuisines of
countries from across the world.

·Recipes would definitely not
include beef/pork. I primarily cook with vegetables, chicken, egg, and
occasionally fish and seafood.

·Recipes would be sourced by
foraging the Internet and suggestions would be most welcome to include recipes
or even modifications to the ones that I have posted.

·Although my inspiration is
from the book-Life from Scratch. However, I would not be following the recipes
listed out on her website.

I normally don't buy cooking books like this one, but you've piqued my interest in Sasha, her life and her story. I love to try new foods and recipes so I'm happy you wrote about her (or I may have never discovered her).

I just realized after your post a blaring flaw in my blog post title. Actually Sasha did not write a cookbook but rather her story and this project which is actually captured on her website. Thanks for mentioning and so I have updated my title. :) Having said that, I really loved the book and she has written it so poignantly.